Valve construction



Jan. 14, 1969 HENDERSON 3,421,534

VALVE CONSTRUCTION Filed 001;. 20, 1965 INVENTOR. 5 TA M 020 HENDERSON BY Fly 6 fi -MJ, flaw-J4 0314M 770 NEY.

United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fluid valve for permitting a gas to pass therethrough when in a normally open position but assuming a permanently closed position upon entry of liquid including a housing formed of two mating sections clamped together in sealed relationship, an inlet nipple on one section and an outlet nipple on the other section, a dished snap disc with apertures therein mounted within said first and second sections, a chamois secured to one side of said disc and covering said apertures and a surface on said disc for forming a seal with an O-ring on said outlet nipple in the event said dished disc snaps due to the resistance otfered by a wet chamois to the passage of gas.

The present invention relates to a valve which permits gases to pass therethrough but closes upon exposure to liquid, and more particularly to a valve for use between a suction bottle and a vacuum pump to prevent the pump from flooding when the suction bottle is accidentally overfilled.

Suction apparatus comprising a vacuum pump and a suction bottle are in common use in medical procedures for removing liquids from a patient. The pump creates a vacuum which is communicated to a suction bottle which in turn is in communication, through a catheter, with an area of the patient to be drained. Liquids are thus deposited in the bottle. In the past a valve was located between the suction bottle and the pump for preventing liquids from flowing into the pump in the event the suction bottle was accidentally overfilled. A valve of this general type is shown in Patent No. 2,261,648. Generally this valve included a porous member, such as a chamois, through which gases were drawn as the pump operated. If for any reason the suction bottle was overfilled, liquids were drawn into the valve and, when the chamois was wetted, its capacity to pass air was decreased. This, in combination with other structure, actuated a valve element which terminated fiow through the valve toward the pump to thereby prevent liquid from entering the pump. However, the foregoing valve was deficient in that the valve remained closed only while the pump continued to operate, and when the pump stopped, the valve opened to permit liquid in the conduits leading from the suction bottle to the pump to drain into the pump, thereby in part defeating the primary purpose of the valve, namely, to prevent flow of liquid into the pump. It is with an improvement in a valve of the foregoing type that the present invention is concerned.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a valve which will permit unimpeded flow of gases therethrough but will close permanently when it is subjected to liquids, to thereby prevent liquids from draining into the pump after the pump has been shut off.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved valve for automatically preventing the passage of liquid which can be easily and simply disassembled after it has been permanently shut off to permit a new and clean valve element to be installed which permits the valve to again function in the intended manner.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved valve for permitting gases to flow therethrough but which blocks liquids and which is extremely simple in construction and reliable in operation and which can be attached to existing suction apparatus to provide the improved results heretofore mentioned. Other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will readily be perceived hereafter.

The improved valve of the present invention consists of a housing, valve means in said housing, and means for causing the valve means to occupy a first opened position for permitting gases to fiow therethrough and for causing said valve means to move to a permanently closed second position upon entry of liquid into the housing to thereby prevent such liquid from passing therethrough. More specifically, the structure for closing the valve upon exposure to liquid comprises a dished resilient disc capable of providing a snap type of action. This dished disc has a plurality of apertures therein which are covered by chamois or other porous material which will permit air or gases to pass therethrough while dry but will impede the flow when wet. The dished disc is made of spring metal and occupies a first portion while the chamois is dry. However, when the chamois becomes wet, as it would be when the liquid flows into the valve, the air pressure resulting from increased resistance to flow through the chamois will cause the dished disc to produce a snap type of action causing it to move to a second position wherein a portion thereof seats on a valve seat to thereby prevent flow through the valve. Once the snap action occurs, the valve permanently closes so that gases can no longer pass therethrough, even though the pump is still in operation. To cause the suction apparatus to resume normal operation, the valve is easily disassembled into two sections and the dished disc is removed and replaced with another like disc of which is in condition to permit gases to fiow therethrough. The present invention will be more fully understood when the following portions of the specification are read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of suction apparatus consisting of a suction bottle and a suction pump with the improved valve of the present invention mounted therebetween;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the improved valve;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken substantially along line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the dished disc;

FIGURE 5 is a view partially in cross section taken substantially along line 5-5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view taken substantially along line 66 of FIGURE 2 and showing one of the locking lugs for securing the housing sections;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view, partially in cross section, similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the dished disc closing the valve; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of another type of di=hed disc which may be used with the valve to provide a different rate of air flow.

In FIGURE 1 suction apparatus 10 is shown which comprises a motor 11 coupled to pump 12, both being mounted as a unit on bracket 13 which in turn is mounted on a suitable base 14. Spaced from pump 12 is a suction bottle 15 which is also mounted on base 14. The suction bottle includes a stopper 16 having two holes therein. A tube 17 extends through one hole and a catheter is mounted at its remote end (not shown). End 21 of conduit 18 also extends through a hole in stopper 16 and its other end is mounted on nipple 19 of the improved valve 20 of the present invention, valve 20 being effectively interposed between conduit 18 and pump 12. When the pump 12 is in operation it will create a vacuum within suction bottle 15. This suction in turn will be communicated to the catheter mounted at the end of conduit 17. The catheter is located in an area of a patient to be drained and as it drains liquids, they will be deposited in suction bottle 15.

Normally, suction bottle 15 should be emptied before the liquid level therein reaches the end 21 of conduit 18. However, if for any reason it is not emptied, such liquids will be drawn into conduit 18. If these liquids should reach pump 12, there could be severe damage of the pump, because of the close tolerances of the parts thereof, which could result in the necessity of costly repairs. The improved valve of the present invention will prevent liquids from entering pump 12 because it will pass only gases. If liquids should be drawn into valve 20, it will close. Liquids in conduit 18 cannot drain into pump 12 after pump 12 is stopped because valve 20 closes permanently upon exposure to liquid. However, valve 20 may thereafter be disassembled and set up to again pass gases.

The improved valve 20 includes a housing 22 consisting of an inlet section 23 and an outlet section 24. The inlet section 23 includes a nipple 19 on which the end of conduit 18 is mounted. Nipple 19 is formed integrally with annular casing 24' having aperture 25 centrally located in back wall 26 thereof. Annular casing 24' defines a circular chamber 27. Ring 28 (FIG. 3) is mounted on section 23 and holds a clear plastic window 29 thereon by means of screws 30 which extend through aligned apertures (not numbered) in annular casing 24. A gasket 31 is interposed between window 29 and body 24 to prevent leakage when screws 30 are tightened. Chamber 27 contains a circular felt disc 27' which filters gases passing between nipple 19 and aperture 25 to thereby prevent objectionable foreign matter in said gases from entering pump 12.

Outlet section 24 is essentially a dished member having a circular base 32 and an annular rim 33, the outer diameter of which is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of annular rim- 34 of body member 24. This permits a telescoping fit, such as shown in FIGURE 3, to be obtained. In order to effect the assembly of sections 23 and 24, rim 33 is inserted into rim 34 with each of lugs 35 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 6) in alignment with a respective lead-in slot 36 in rim 34. After suflicient relative axial movement has been effected between the rims 33 and 34, lugs 35 will enter slot portions 37 (FIG. 6) and thus efiect a locking action. At this time the extreme edge of rim 33 is pressed against rubber disc 39, which is of circular shape and has an aperture 41 in concentric relationship with aperture 25. An O-ring 42 is mounted at the junction of plate 32 and rim 33 and a dished disc 43 having a chamois disc 48 secured thereto is interposed between O-ring 42 and seat 39. A nipple 44 has one end thereof securely fixed to plate 32 and the other end thereof is threaded at 45 for insertion into fitting 46 on pump 12. Mounted at the end of nipple 44 within the valve is an O-ring 47 which serves as a valve seat, as will become more apparent hereafter.

The dished disc 43 occupies the position shown in FIG- URE 3 when valve 20 is subjected only to a flow of gases. At this point it is to be noted that the gases will pass through nipple 19, the felt 27 in chamber 27, aperture 25, aperture 41, through the portions of chamois 48 (FIG. 4) overlying apertures 49 in dished disc 43, the portion of housing 24 to the right of dished disc 43 and through nipple 44 into pump 12. The foregoingfiow is obtained whenever chamois 48 is dry, that is, before it has been exposed to sufiicient moisture to cause its air passing capacity to decrease. When water is drawn into valve 20 so that it wets chamois 48, there will be an impedance to fiow of either gas or liquid through the portions of the chamois overlying apertures 49 in dished disc 4 43. This will cause a partial vacuum to be created in chamber 50 between dished disc 43 and valve seat 47 which, in turn, will cause the dished disc 43 to snap over center and the central portion 51 thereof will come to rest on O-ring 47, as can be seen from FIGURE 7.

The characteristic of dished disc 43 which provides the foregoing action is that it is fabricated from a spring metal, in this instance beryllium copper, which causes it to assume either one of two conditions, namely, a condition wherein the metal side is concave, as shown in FIGURE 3, to permit gases to pass through the valve, or a condition wherein the metal side is convex (FIG. 7) to cause the valve to close because the central portion 51 will seat on O-ring 47. In other words, there can be no inbetween position. The dished disc 43 is either in a fully opened position or a fully closed position by virtue of the snap action which is inherent in its construction.

Once dished disc 43 has moved to the closed position shown in FIGURE 7, it will retain this position until it is replaced. This will prevent liquids in conduit 18 (FIG. 1) from draining into pump 12, as would be the care if disc 43 could spring back to its original open position when pump 12 no longer creates a suction.

In order to set valve 20 up for subsequent operation, it is merely necessary to rotate housing portion 24 relative to housing portion 23 to thereby cause lugs 35 to travel through their respective slots 37 and 36 until a point is reached wherein the housing portions can be pulled apart. A wrench may be applied to nut 53 which is formed integrally with nipple 44 to effect the foregoing disassembly. After the two housing sections are separated, disc 43 is removed and a new disc 43 is inserted in the dished condition shown in FIGURE 3. Thereafter the housing sections are reassembled by causing the lugs 35 to enter their respective slots 36 and 37. The valve 20 will then again operate until such time as it is exposed to liquid and the wetting of the chamois during pump operation will cause the dished disc 43 to provide the above described snap action which causes it to close and thus prevent liquids from passing to pump 12.

The improved valve 20 of the present invention can be utilized to vary the capacity of an existing pump 12 by substitution of various discs therein. More specifically, as can be seen from FIGURE 4, disc 43 has eight apertures 49 therein. This will permit it to have a certain capacity of air flow. If it should be desired to provide a lesser air flow, it is merely necessary to substitute a disc such as 54 (FIG. 8) for disc 43. Disc 54 is identical in all respects to disc 43 except that it has only four holes 55 rather than eight holes, such as shown in FIG- URE 4, This reduces the air handling capacity of valve 20, and thus permits a pump 12 which is of a certain size to provide a smaller air flow.

It can thus be seen that the improved valve 20 of the present invention is manifestly capable of achieving the above enumerated objects and while preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it will readily be appreciated that it is not limited thereto but may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A fluid valve for permitting a gas to pass therethrough when in a normally open position but assuming a permanently closed position upon entry of liquid and maintaining said permanently closed position regardless of the value of any subsequent fluid pressure in said valve comprising a housing, normally open valve means in said housing, a porous member in said housing located in the path of fluid flow and of a construction which will permit said gas to flow through said porous member when said porous member is dry but which will provide a restriction to flow when said porous member is wet, and means for coupling said porous member to said valve means for permitting said valve means to occupy said normally open position when said porous member is dry and causing said valve means to move to said permanently closed position in response to the restriction to flow of fluid experienced when said porous member is wet and for maintaining said valve means closed after said valve means has once assumed a closed position irrespective of the value of the fluid pressure thereafter experienced in the valve.

2. A fluid valve as set forth in claim. 1 wherein said last mentioned means comprte a dished snap-acting spring disc mounted in said housing and lying entirely in the path of flow of said gas through said housing, said snap-acting dished spring disc being capable of assuming either a first position corresponding to said normally open position or a second position corresponding to said permanently closed position, open spaces in said dished disc, and wherein said porous member comprises a membrane which covers said open spaces in said dished disc.

3. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 2 wherein said valve means comprises a valve seat in said housing, and means on said dished disc for moving into engagement with said valve seat to cause said valve means to occupy said closed position.

4. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 3 wherein said means on said dished disc comprises a portion of the surface of said dished disc.

5. A fluid as set forth in claim 4 wherein said portion of the surface of said dished disc is located at the center thereof and wherein said spaces comprise a plurality of 6 apertures located about said portion of the surface of said dished disc.

6. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 3 wherein said housing comprises first and second sections, and means for releasably securing said first and second sections to each other with said dished disc therebetween.

7. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 6 including a fluid outlet nipple on said second section, and an O-ring mounted on said nipple internally of said housing for forming said valve seat.

8. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 7 including a fluid inlet nipple on said first section, a filter chamber in said first section, and filter means in said filter chamber.

9. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 8 including a rubber disc base in said first section and edge means on said second section for forming a seal with said rubber disc base.

10. A fluid valve as set forth in claim 9 including a second O-ring mounted relative to said second section, said second O-ring being of a diameter which is substantially equal to the diameter of said dished disc for supporting the outer edge of said dished disc.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,261,648 11/1941 Goldstein 137-199 2,687,745 8/ 1954 Hackett 137-460 2,767,733 10/1956 Anderson 137517 X ALAN COHAN, Primary Examiner. 

